Ghost Ship

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Mickey Phillips clenched his jaw as he listened to his boss lay out the reasons why she wasn't ready to go public with the report.

He had eagerly brought it in to her expansive office earlier in the day and as was his fashion, he grinned, groveled and urged her to read it. He asked to come back in an hour to talk about how they would release it.

Now the three-term U.S. Senator was telling him to walk back his expectations on a press release.

"We should get out in front of this, Senator. The last thing we want is for him to get ahold of it and make us look like we're not treating this seriously."

Phillips thought himself cute and charming when he referred to the Senator's rival in the upcoming election as 'him,' avoiding his name. As if his loyalty disallowed him from uttering the name Hank Emerson, the one-term U.S. Congressman for Alaska who was gunning for the Senate seat.

Phillips' boss, U.S. Senator Marian Falco found it childish and irritating, but she was used to this particular staff member's propensity toward smarmy affectations and phony displays of commitment.

Senator Falco had an intellectual focus that kept her from being distracted by sycophantic aides. Although Mickey loved to get down in the dirt when it came to campaign rhetoric, his boss believed in staying on the high ground for partisan political maneuvers.

She knew Phillips would jump ship and work for the other party in a heartbeat if she lost the race to retain her seat as one of the U.S Senators for Alaska.

"I know you feel strongly about this, Mick, but we need to hear from the Admiral's office. I want verification that they are also concerned and we're not just getting village speculation confused with hard evidence here."

Mickey Phillips worked to keep the condescension out of his voice. He felt a headache building behind his eyes, the one he always got when he was reminded that he should be on the other side of the desk and this twit from the hinterlands of Alaska who had risen to the powerful ranks of the U.S Senate should be working for him, not the other way around.

He smiled, a slick, nauseating curl of lips pulled back from unnaturally white teeth.

"Senator, I know you want to proceed carefully here, and that's certainly wise. But even if this is just unfounded yammering from superstitious villagers, we want to take the lead on this concern." He maintained his smile, but the neatly trimmed nails on his right hand were leaving deep indents where he was digging them into his palm. Why was she so stupid about these things? They would lose this election if she didn't listen to him!

Senator Falco leveled her gaze at the career-hungry young man across the desk from her. She pushed the report toward him, not taking her eyes from his.

"Never again let me hear you speak of people in rural Alaska as 'superstitious yammering villagers.' These people, regardless of what you may think of them, are hard-working, serious and intelligent. Safety in their communities is a huge problem and a huge concern. If this information is true, it has enormous implications that we have no idea how to contain and deal with right now."

She pushed back from her desk and stood, a clear signal she was done speaking with him.

"I don't want to lob information out to the public that could create more fear and paranoia until we're sure it's verified." She watched his jaws clench and saw the anger in his eyes. His happiness, or lack of it, did not matter to her.

"So, unless you have other questions, I suggest you get in touch with the Rear Admiral's office and see if you can confirm this information. Until then, keep a lid on it."